Prevalence and Risk Factors for Head Lice Infestation at Kaima Sunday School Children, Kauditan District, and North Minahasa Regency

Abstract

The majority of head lice infestations occur in children, which results in social, economic and psychological impacts. Patients with louse infestation tend to experience psychological problems such as feeling ashamed, low self-esteem, isolated, fearful, and even frustrated due to the stigma of society that considers head lice infestation is synonymous with poor hygiene, poverty, and in children it is associated with a lack of attention from the sufferer's parents. Head lice are blood-sucking insects with a specific host that lives on the human head. This parasite cannot live outside the head for more than a certain period of time, because it must get food from the blood of its host. The prevalence of head lice infestation is still occurring throughout the world, especially developing countries. This study aims to identify the prevalence and factors causing head lice infestation in elementary school children. The research method is an analytical survey of Sunday school children in the village of Kaima, Kauditan District. After getting permission from the parents, children who met the inclusion criteria were examined with a fine comb and manually brushed the child's hair systematically from the temporal part of one side of the head to the other side. The examination was carried out on 99 Sunday school children consisting of 51 boys and 48 girls. The total number of children infected with head lice was 39 children (39.80 percent). Among the number of children infested, the girls amounted to 74.36% (29 children). Several factors were examined related to head lice infestation, namely gender, hair length, number of siblings, parental income, and parental education. Factors that were significantly related to head lice infestation were gender (p=000), hair length (p-0.009) and parental income (p=0.000). As conclusion, the prevalence of head lice infestation is still high with several risk factors. Management of the infestation needs to be done thoroughly by taking into ....